I thought this important enough to merit a new topic...I have read on another website message board that American credit cards (without the chip) will no longer be accepted at the péages!! And this info also came with the statement that there are signs in the toll booth windows indicating same.

If anyone has specific info to confirm or deny this, please post, as this is an important issue for those that travel by personal vehicle on the autoroutes in France.

I read that post also and it was not true.

WHERE did you read this. WHY are you not naming the source?

Is this because credit cards in Europe now have a chip and a pin number while most in North America do not? The chip /pin combination eliminates having to sign every time you use your card.

We just used our American bank-issued Mastercard in péage tollbooths a couple of weeks ago (as recently as June 19) - although I will say the signs in the toll stations were a little confusing.

I used one on Sunday and there was nothing indicating that foreign cards would not be accepted.

There is nothing to suggest on official autoroutes site about any changes in payment method. http://www.autoroutes.fr/voyage/prat...ment.php?lng=2
As toll payment isn't individually authorised - you don't have to enter pin (if you have chip & pin card) or sign the slip - so presence or absence of chip doesn't affect acceptability. They don't take Visa Electron or Maestro card that requires authorisation for every transaction of whatever amount.
It's best to use a manned booth, rather than an automatic one when paying with a card.

The autoroute toll machines do not use the chip -- they use the magnetic strip even on French cards.

Responding to the comment above regarding which web site my original posting was from...I did not post it due to perhaps old concerns about Fodor's not liking to have references to other websites. However, this is a fairly major issue, and the website is Slowtraveltalk...here is the url directly to the thread:

http://slowtalk.com/groupee/forums/a...4/m/6361081161

I will be on the autoroute Sunday. Do I chance the lane for CCs? What to do, what to do...

Use the cash lane, and simply give them your credit card, it is not necessary to use the CB lane exclusively for that purpose.

In summary, use a lane with a live person in the toll booth.

I have used Visa and Amex always successfully in these péages. Don't know why people say that Amex is not accepted there, it was a few months ago.

The information is simply wrong on the slowtrav post. I went through that very toll plaza at Montpellier the following weekend and chose the Carte Bleu lane and paid with my american credit card. Worked fine.

The autoroutes in France are divided up amoung several companies. Autoroutes du Sud, Cofiroute, Paris Rhin Rhone etc. Each has its own payment requirements. I have never run into zones that refuse american mastercard or visa but some regions do not accept Amex. Travel with both and choose the CB lane and you will be just fine. I've been doing it for years and the only problem I ever had was when the machine ate the transparent Delta Amex. I just pushed the call button and an attendant came over, opened the machine and handed me the card.

Morgan, I'll be driving from Paris to Brugge on Sunday. So you're saying I can definitely use the CC only lanes with one of the following; Visa, MC, or Amex? Just want to be sure, I'd love to avoid lines at the cash lanes

Thanks,
john.

No problem using the Autoroute du Nord with a variety of foreign and local cards. Considering the number of foreigners using that stretch, I find it comical that anyone could possibly believe that the French freeway companies would want to cut themselves off from that instant revenue.

Yes Sanef that runs those autoroutes takes Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. I usually travel with more than one. For example if the Amex network is down for some reason I can just switch to Visa.

Not meant sarcastically...but paying a toll on a freeway sort of sounds like nonsense to me...by definition one doesn't pay tolls on a freeway...the English term motorway might make more sense (or autoroute or autobahn)...

In US english I suppose the correct term would be "tollroad". However, as the vast majority of the interstates are free, the word "freeway" is often used for any high speed motorway despite the root of the word.

The "free" of the word freeway refers to the idea that it is free of traffic signals, obstacles, etc., not the idea that it is free of charge. But I guess in a world where some people feel the need to use the word "beefburger" instead of hamburger for the sake of clarity, I am not surprised that people think a freeway must be free.

I always wondered why here in the US we say driveway for the strip where we park our cars. And on the eastcoast isn't there some roads called parkways, where cars are driven?